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April 2009 College Tribune | 2nd 3rd February 2009 11
Features News
Reach Land
Laura Butler speaks to Keith Wood about the Irish Rugby Teams metoric rise, and the class divide within schools rugby A fortnight ago we were a country suffering a depressive recession. Almost two weeks later and we may still be firmly stuck in this rut of a recession, but all of a sudden it seems to sting much less than before. Bantam Weight World Champion, Six Nations Grand Slam winners! Following the triumphant successes at The Millenium Stadium and The O2 on that memorable weekend that will be recorded in history forever, Irish sport has suddenly drawn increasing attention to itself. Amid a storm of strikes, protests, pay cuts and reduncancy packages, it seems that finally the little leprauchaun with his pot of luck has returned. The former Munster, Ireland and Lions hooker, Mr. Wood rejected the idea of solely rugby schools triumphing, making examples of Mick Galwey and John Hayes who both came from non-rugby playing institutions. ‘Mick Galwey was a phenomenal player of both rugby and Gaelic football; he never went to a rugby-playing school… I agree there is this notion towards some places like Blackrock College, which does seem slightly elitist, it is definitely an affluent school, and we do see a lot of players coming from there, but that’s because they genuinely train like professionals.’ Wood himself never went to a rugby school, and owes his skills and success to his days in Garryowen. ‘If the talent
and ambition is there, it won’t matter where you came from’. He also summarized for me the development hunt in Munster, stating that ‘indeed there is a large dedication to focusing on the non-rugby playing schools. Teams do go out to rural areas to recruit, but like any sport, you are also competing with others, and the likes of the GAA especially, are not fond of these ‘hunters’ venturing to their parts’. When asked about the effects the Grand Slam win can have on the country’s spirits, Keith Wood mentioned that ‘In terms of feel good factor in terms of the recession, I think the Grand slam win can have phenomenal value. ‘They’ can easily overstate that it’s just sport - and essentially that is what it is - but there’s something incredibly positive that even when things are really down at the moment, we have a group of people and a group effectively of leaders, who we can follow, and who have delivered something on the world stage and on the Northern Hemisphere stage. I think that’s immensely exciting in the midst of the negativity of the current climate. And without a shadow of a doubt will it draw more kids into the game’. Saturday 21st at approximately 7pm, Declan Kidney and his team began celebrating with champagne after their first Grand Slam win in 61 years. Answering Ireland’s call, a proud and exhilerated
(if exhausted) ‘BOD’ & Co hoisted the silverware high into the night’s sky. It would arrive back on home soil Sunday morning to adoring family, friends and fans in Dawson Street. Is this the answer we’ve been eagerly awaiting to save us and lift the spirits of the nation? Kidney’s triumph at Cardiff firmly ranks us above France, Argentina, England and Wales on the international stage, and with the upcoming South Africa tour, one wonders how many green shirts will be included in McGeechan’s Lion squad. But looking beyond the win and South Africa, how does this title fit into the greater scheme of things? Whilst having lunch recently, a family friend abruptly declared that he was withdrawing his sixteen-year old son from the local secondary school in Galway and shipping him up to the more favourable potentials of Blackrock College. This alarmed me, as I wondered why on earth would he force his son to leave his friends and home comforts behind to board at a costly institution of over 5,000 a year. Yet, considering the Leinster weight of our green shirts, one cannot deny that there seems to be a fairly well established perception that the bulk of Irish development and academy players stem from the private schools in the surroundings of Co. Dublin. Aside from our championing Heineken Cup county, who apparently breed
Forwards like livestock, one naturally assumes that sending their child to a fee-paying school like Blackrock College or St. Michaels will automatically multiply their chances ten-fold on the field. Why is this so? Surely, if one has talent it should not matter what school they come, as all are in with equal opportunity. Eddie O’Sullivan wrote in an article for The Independent in January, that the competitions between the Holy Ghost schools provides an extraordinary insight into the history and traditions of schools rugby. ‘Schools rugby consistently plays a huge part in player development and this fact is readily recognised by the IRFU. What is evident, as long as schools rugby has existed, is that Irish schools play an integral part in the player developmental pipelines that the IRFU support and manage.’ He later went on to state that ‘Youth rugby caters for the development of players who do not attend rugby-playing schools’. In spite of this declaration I can’t help feeling unconvinced. For example; Ireland introduces a fresh player new to the back line, standing side by side with Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe. Along with his first cap for his country, he scores his first professional try. To tumultuous applause, spectators and commentators alike inquire over where this genius is from. He’s from a less fortunate area in
North Dublin where the local secondary school has no or few facilities, but he conquered. For some reason it doesn’t ring true does it? Regardless of proclamtions, there does persist this idea of lack of outreach beyond the obvious realms of the Holy Ghost schools. Of course there are always exceptions to the case; once in a while we do encounter an ambitious full-back or daring out-half surfacing from the woodwork of the more ‘well-rounded’ sporting schools (those that include hockey), but often is a situation where these players venture beyond the urban pale to ‘greener pastures’ down south or out west: Former UCD student Felix Jones springs to mind. Kevin Myers wrote an article in November last year for the Belfast Telegraph, which tackled the ongoing debate of the Southside attitudes toward the game and the absurdly unnecessary costs of revamping the D4 stadium in Lansdowne. Aptly entitled ‘Rugby snobs will have a trying time in their new ‘Crock Park’’, Myers points out the insanity of the IRFU’s building a stadium whose ‘capacity is nearly 20,000 short of the known market demand for a visit of the Manchester City of the rugby world, never mind when rugby's commercial equivalent of Manchester United’. He insists the ‘real purpose… is not to satisfy the demand to see the matches, nor to generate funds which